HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017 01-30 He spotted untouched snow - and then the Treasure Hunt medallion PIONEER PRESS2/1/2017 He spotted untouched snow— and then the Treasure Hunt medallion–Twin Cities
THINGS TO DO > TREASURE HUNT
He spotted untouched snow —
and then the Treasure Hunt
medallion
By IID 16;; QRZltlQK I dorrick@pioneerpress.com
PUBLISHED: January 30, 2017 at 4:25 pm I UPDATED: January 31, 2017 at 9:57 pm
Jerome Krieger's moment of glory came around 3:30 p.m. Monday.
He was off the east shore of Spoon Lake, part of Keller Regional Park in Maplewood.
It was his first time there. First time there, that is, hunting for the medallion, the
object of the annual Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt, which has been held since 1952.
Like many of the legion treasure hunters, Krieger had zeroed in on Keller from a
rereading of the clues and sensing a shift in the collective wisdom of the crowd of
hunters, who often post breakthroughs on social media.
Before that, Krieger, 47, had been among those fixated on Long Lake Regional Park, a
site where the medallion had never been hidden before. (It was hidden in Keller once
before, in 1976.) Saturday and Sunday, he had worked a pair of 16 -hour shifts
volunteering at a local basketball tournament.
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2/1/2017 He spotted untouched snow— and then the Treasure Hunt medallion–Twin Cities
IRIEIL TIED: What the 2017 Tireasuire IHunt clues mean
Then Monday afternoon, he worked his way around Spoon Lake, where more than a
dozen cars were parked and hunters were scattered, poking, prodding and scraping
the landscape.
Just inside some trees, on a slope of the land, he spied an area of untrodden snow.
He was alone. He used to hunt with relatives, but for the past several years, time
commitments made the task tough to schedule, so on Monday, he was solo.
"We've been close so many times before," he said Monday evening.
RELATED: ID:Video: Watch as tlhe 20.17 IPiioneeir IPiress Tireasuuire Hunt irmredalfiioin its
He and his wife, Jeanne, found a "fake one" in 2007 at Roseville's Central Park, where
the second of two medallions was hidden that year. Days before it was found in 2012
at Tony Schmidt Regional Park, Jeanne had stood within a few paces of where it was
eventually found. Swede Hollow, 2009, same thing. In 2010, they saw Jake
Ingebrigtson find the thing at Lilydale Regional Park.
But this was Day 9 of the 12 -clue Treasure Hunt, and nine is Krieger's lucky number,
the numeral that adorned his baseballjerseys as a kid.
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2/1/2017 He spotted untouched snow— and then the Treasure Hunt medallion–Twin Cities
He began clawing gently at the untouched snow. After about three minutes, his hoe
struck something. Ice. Which was strange, he thought, since the area had southern
exposure, and recent warm spells had melted all the ice in the immediate area.
91 Dave Orrick II 01111110
@OutdoorsNow
Here's where Jerome Krieger said he found the medallion.
Ih IIDIIIL]irlfl:
6:45 PM - 30 Jan 2017
4 9
His daughters, Maddy and Greta, were returning home from school. Jeanne was at
work. As a couple, they had become hooked together on the annual hunt, held in
conjunction with the St. Paul Winter Carnival. The Kriegers had been "hunting
seriously" since 2004, when the prize was hidden in Phalen Regional Park, nearwhere
Jeanne grew up. (Jerome was raised in St. Paul's Como neighborhood.)
Jerome Krieger dragged the ice block — a sheet really, about the size and thickness of
a large book — toward him. (It had been, in fact, a frozen boot print, according to the
clues explainer and a video of the medallion being hidden, but perhaps it lost its form
in the balmy days before.)
Later Monday, he explained what happened next, an early telling of a tale he told
throughout the evening, and will be telling for the rest of his life.
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2/1/2017 He spotted untouched snow— and then the Treasure Hunt medallion–Twin Cities
"There were leaves on one side and it was just gray on the other. The ice was gray. I
couldn't see anything inside.... I dropped it to see if anything was in there, and it (the
medallion) just popped right out.... I looked around. No one was there. I picked it up.
... There was nothing on it, just a piece of tape with a number to call. I put it in my
mitten and started walking."
He called, in order: Jeanne, his mom, the Pioneer Press.
He picked up his family and drove the prize in. He furnished the nine clues from the
Pioneer Press and had properly registered his Winter Carnival button, thus earning
him the full prize.
At 6 p.m., Pioneer Press Associate Publisher and vice President Greg Mazanec and Joe
Leonard of Fury Motors, which sponsors the event, presented Krieger with a clheck for
$:10,000.
Krieger said he's not sure how he'll spend the money, though both daughters
quickly put in a pitch: "They said, `We want a spring break,"' he said.
Spoon Lake is a small body of waterjust north of Minnesota 36, part of the Keller
chain of lakes. Spoon is downstream from Lake Gervais and up from Keller Lake,
which flows into Round Lake and Lake Phalen.
Tags: :'rt- "'Writ
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2/1/2017 He spotted untouched snow— and then the Treasure Hunt medallion–Twin Cities
Dave Orrick
As outdoors editor for the Pioneer Press, Orrick fishes, paddles,
hunts, skis and romps across the region while staying on top of
outdoors news. When the occasion demands, he's also been known
to cover topics ranging from politics to golf. He lives in St. Paul with
his wife and son.
III'��(wtlll,rpme 11131ave Orrick @outdt'woirsino
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